Adriane Carr speaks to the media before today's council meeting in Vancouver on February 12, 2013. Her lawyer, Jonathan Baker is on the left.Wayne Leidenfrost
/ PNG

The city manager's refusal to allow a motion to consider the risks to the city budget if the Vancouver Park Board continues with its planned reorganization was illegal and an abuse of power, said municipal lawyer Jonathan Baker at a press conference Tuesday. Baker was hired by Vancouver city councillor Adriane Carr, who submitted her motion last week. It was quashed by city manager Penny Ballem, on the grounds it would put the deal at risk.Wayne Leidenfrost
/ PNG

The city manager's refusal to allow a motion to consider the risks to the city budget if the Vancouver Park Board continues with its planned reorganization was illegal and an abuse of power, said municipal lawyer Jonathan Baker at a press conference Tuesday.NICK PROCAYLO
/ PNG

The city manager's refusal to allow a motion to consider the risks to the city budget if the Vancouver Park Board continues with its planned reorganization was illegal and an abuse of power, said municipal lawyer Jonathan Baker at a press conference Tuesday.Wayne Leidenfrost, PNG
/ Vancouver Sun

Concerned citizens listen to discussion about the Vancouver park board plan to assume more direct control of community centre revenues during a meeting at Hillcrest Community Centre in Vancouver, B.C., on February 7, 2013.Steve Bosch
/ PNG

VANCOUVER - The city manager's refusal to allow a motion to consider the financial risks if the Vancouver park board continues with its planned reorganization was illegal and an abuse of power, municipal lawyer Jonathan Baker said at a press conference Tuesday morning.

Baker was hired by Vancouver city councillor Adriane Carr, who submitted her motion before last week's council meeting. It was quashed by city manager Penny Ballem, on the grounds it would put the deal at risk.

"When Councillor Carr asked for this opinion, quite honestly I didn't believe this could have happened," said Baker, a former Non-Partisan Association councillor.

"Never in my experience, which is well over 50 years associated with local government, has anything like this happened."

"The issue is not the park board. It's far more important than parks or anything. It strikes right at the heart of democracy," he said.

The city manager, a bureaucrat, has no authority to prevent a motion submitted by an elected councillor to be placed on the agenda, and to do so constitutes an abuse of duty, Baker said, who also referred to the role of a city manager as that of a "butler" whose job is to pass issues along to council for discussion.

He and Carr were also critical of Ballem's suggestion the issue should be debated during an in camera session and not in public.

"This has already been placed in public by the park board," Carr said.

The legal opinion was presented outside City Hall before the start of the weekly council meeting, where Mayor Gregor Robertson later refused to allow Carr's motion to be added to the agenda, saying it was "not in order."

Carr can still raise the motion later in the day as new business for the next council meeting, but she challenged the mayor's decision, calling it "wrong."

Under council procedures, the mayor - not the city manager - has the authority to place a new business item on the agenda.

During the council lunch break, Carr was questioned by media on whether her comments were in breach of city hall's code of conduct, which prohibits council members from making public comments attacking city staff or invoking staff matters for political purposes.

"I am an elected city councillor. I have the right to be able to speak to issues that are of concern to constituents," she said.

"I believe it needs to be in the public eye. To say it cannot be discussed is a bullying tactic and I will not succumb to that," she said, accusing Ballem of intimidation for warning her to "think carefully' before discussing the matter in public.

The legal opinion and council drama come the day after a public meeting at Hillcrest community centre, where six Vancouver community associations opposed to the plan vowed not to negotiate with the park board.

The new deal, if it passes, would see the park board pool $1.3 million in annual revenue collected by the city's 20 volunteer-run community centres. The stated goal of the plan is to make the centres more equitable, and was approved by the park board on Feb. 6 after nine hours of heated debate.

Thirteen centres support the deal, which would come into effect July 1. One has not indicated its position, and six are vehemently opposed.

But in response to the vocal opposition, Green party councillor Carr put forward a motion requesting information on the financial impact of the reorganization plan, especially if it leads to a drop in volunteer hours. The city would then have to make up the gap, which could prove costly.

Vancouver's community centres are funded by the city, but individual centres fundraise extensively to support programming and equipment needs.

Under the proposal, presented by park board general manager Malcolm Bromley, the efforts of fundraising and any matching funds or grants would remain under the control of the individual community centre associations.

The new deal would force the groups to hand surplus funds and facility-based revenue back to the park board for equitable redistribution. The proposal, including the funding model, remain subject to negotiation until July 1.

Five Vision Vancouver park board commissioners backed the deal and two NPA commissioners voted against it.

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